Happy Holidays welcome to our debut Stage Presence blog, designed to offer a fun and supportive community for working musicians to share ideas, learn from one another and find inspiration.
This month we are featuring Chris Sherman, aka Freekbass as our StompLight Artist of the Month and recipient of a coveted "StAy LiT" StompLight Flask, a holiday video greeting from guitarist extraordinaire Joel Hoekstra, a couple StompLight Fantasy LP album covers and Words of Wisdom Part 1 from the StompLight Bunker Boys.
StompLight Artist of the Month
Freekbass uses his StompLights on a weekly basis during his highly creative live streams. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio Chris honed his chops at an early age in the local music scene, known for its rich history of Funk. Legendary funk icon Bootsy Collins (who gave him his nickname during a studio session), produced his first two albums, dubbing Freekbass "The new Spiritual Warrior for the Funk". Chris's love of music and stage presence has simultaneously segued into the world of live-streaming music, performing live original tunes on TikTok, while engaging with his virtual audience. In January 2024, Freekbass was crowned a winner for “TikTok Live Fest”, celebrating the top 30 creators, globally.
We asked Freekbass a few questions and here is his reply. Enjoy!
If you could see any artist perform, living or dead, who would it be?
Sly & The Family Stone
Favorite Piece of Gear?
Digitech Whammy pedal (best bass octaver in the biz)
What attributes do you look for in musicians you collaborate with?
Ones where songwriting and playing for the song is the #1 goal
Do you have any passions outside music?
I love FC Cincinnati Soccer and superhero movies?
Batman or Superman?
Joker!
Words of Wisdom For Working Musicians - Part 1
Many a musician dreams of making a career playing live music. In the next several editions of the Stage Presence newsletter StompLight President and working musician Michael John Ahern www.MJAmusic.com offers some wisdom learned from his 47 years of writing, band leading, promoting, buying talent and performing around the world. If you need support or have specific questions Michael offers complimentary musical career counseling to all StompLight customers. hello@mjamusic.com
Know Your Musical Goals
With the New Year approaching creating goals for 2025 is an powerful way to elevate your career and the opportunities you seek out. Want to be a pit musician for musicals? Look for opportunities in that field. Want to be a touring musician? Join a local band and build from there. Create a range of goals, from short-term to long-term and from easy to difficult, Create a Journal and write them down so that you can check things off from time to time and see your growth. It’s okay if your goals change over time. Check out this link.
Be Someone Others Want To Work With
Music is a field that is heavily based on relationships. Sure – it helps to be a good player – but skills will only take you so far. Being a team player, kind, responsible, and trustworthy will make sure that people call you back time after time. You’ve got to be a “good hang” and a good player.
Working Outside Of Music Is Not Failure
For most musicians, a full-time job in music isn’t going to happen right away. While working towards your ultimate career aspirations, it’s okay (and probably necessary) to pick up work outside of performing. Not only will this give you the financial means to keep working on your goals, it’s also a great way to learn new and important skills. Having non-musical work may also introduce you to new interests and passions that can influence your music-making in a positive way!
